Messermeister 12” Ceramic Sharpening Rod - Knife Sharpener - Fine 1200 Grit - Ceramic Core, Large Sharpening Surface & Soft-Grip Handle

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a fight for the ages! In one corner, we have the traditional whetstone and grooved butcher's steel, time-honored and reliable tools for maintaining a knife's edge. Opposite these puissant contenders, we have the newcomer, a ceramic rod, smooth and sleek."But wait!" you say, "that's not fair, you're comparing a single tool against two!" Well, in this case it's more than an even match-up! The Messermeister ceramic sharpener takes the place of both a honing steel and a fine whetstone, and puts them in an easy to use, portable package. Five to ten swipes on the rod do an excellent job of re-aligning badly abused knife edges, without the gradual dulling and dinging created by a normal steel. To the contrary, the fine grit restores sharpness, allowing you to maintain an extremely sharp edge for quite a long time before requiring more aggressive sharpening. It is also suitable for use on harder Japanese steels that become chipped by a normal butcher's steel.As far as the coarseness of the ceramic, I'd say this is 800-1000 grit, or equivalent to a "fine" or finishing whetstone. It does not remove much metal, so it is suitable for regular touch-up use; on the other hand, for very dull or badly dinged knives you will need to go to a professional sharpener or employ a rough/medium grit benchstone. A coarser, more aggressive grit is necessary for these uses, because it removes metal more quickly, provides a better contact area with the blade, and produces a more consistent angle. However, I still could not ask for a single better general knife maintenance tool than this sharpening rod.In a professional kitchen environment, this tool really shines. There is rarely time to properly sharpen much-abused house knives, but this rod will make them usable again. Cooks ask to borrow it because it works so well. Even the exec chef, who makes it a policy to find flaws to fix and not swell heads with praise, cannot find anything to fault about it.I have a couple tips to get the best results: make SURE to hold the blade at an angle matching the original bevel (usually 20 degrees), stroke along the rod edge first, and do not use the rod too aggressively. Only 5-10 strokes are necessary. Because the ceramic sharpens, you will dull your knife if you do not use it correctly; you can get away with sloppy technique on a butcher's steel, but that is not true here. When the rod starts to turn grey and clog with accumulated metal, use a nylon Scotchbrite scouring pad to scrub it out. This will restore its sharpening power and some of the appearance. Finally, be careful with your rod, as it is quite brittle; I haven't broken or chipped mine yet, but half the reviewers mention breaking theirs.

Haaa--llelujah...... Haaa--llelujah...... Hallelujah! -- Hallelujah! -- Hal-le-le-eh-lu-jah.Sharp knives! I finally have sharp knives!This thing is so unbelievably amazing, I feel like swearing. It works!... by golly, the darn thing works! I've tried more knife sharpening systems and stones than I care to admit. In fact, here are the ones I can remember purchasing:1. Smith's PP1 PocketPal2. Furi FUR626 Ozitech Diamond Fingers Pro Knife Sharpener3. Wusthof 2-Stage Knife Sharpener (the heavy duty version)4. Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker Knife Sharpener5. A traditional whetstone6. AccuSharp Shear Sharp Scissor Sharpener7. A motorized dual-stage (coarse/fine) grinding stone that came with a fancy can opener8. Some other manual dual-stage sharpener I bought at Bed Bath & Beyond (similar to the cheap Chef's Choice)Despite being a mechanical engineer *and* a mechanic and a psychotic perfectionist when it comes to sharp knives, I was never able to get that razor sharp edge everyone dreams of. Sometimes I would spend 30 minutes on a single knife following the directions to the letter (I did this many times over with the Wusthof, the Spyderco, and the regular whetsone). None of them worked (though I'm sure a master knife-sharpener could get the whetstone to work). It's as though you have to be a Samurai-sword blacksmith to get the same results claimed by the manufacturers. Some of these tools were just plain junk. Others were OK. But never did I arrive at perfection... that is, until now.10 minutes after I unpacked this guy I set about sharpening a Chicago Cutlery chef's knife and pairing knife (not the highest quality knives, I admit), a Leatherman Charge multi-tool blade, a Victorinox 4" pocketknife blade, a KaBar hunting knife, and a Smith & Wesson boot knife. Perfection across the board. I tested the first four knives by doing that nifty paper slicing test you see on TV where you hold the paper in front of you and cut slices using the entire length of the knife. Every one of them made delicate slices from heal to tip.You operate this thing just like the honing steel that came with your set of kitchen knives. But this is *not* a honing tool, it is sharpening stone perfection. With each swipe you can feel it taking aggressive yet precisely-controlled slices off the knife's edge. 5-10 strokes per side for any knife in average shape and you'll be shocked at the finished edge. But I should warn you: the feel of this thing shaving off years and years of wretched sharpenings induces some sort of mysterious swordsman's euphoria... a kind of mild intoxication that will have you standing hunched over in your kitchen making swipe after swipe after swipe like some mad scientist... trying to get sharper... and sharper... and sharper. *Not* because the knife isn't already sharp, mind you, but because you've finally been liberated from knife sharpening hell!If you want sharp knives, look no further. This is the one.

I have an old steel honing tool my dad gave Mr a hundred years ago... it was too course for my Japanese knives & a friend took a chunk out of one of my other knives with it. That was it... time for a good honing tool. You can feel when you are at the correct angle - which is awesome. It's quite long which prevents choppy swipes (and uneven edging). Even my cheaper knives are immediately sharper. (Yes, i know it's not a sharpener). My Japanese knives are easy to hone as well, and they have asymmetrical edges... you really can feel when you're at the right angle. Love it! The only downside side I can think of is I'm afraid I'll drop it and break it... so, being very careful.